Scripture Reading--John 20:19-23
It’s an interesting scene. The first Easter evening, the disciples are
gathered behind locked doors, still afraid.
They have heard reports of the empty tomb, but did not yet know how to understand
those reports. They assumed that they
were still being hunted by the Roman authorities—and they were probably
right. But into this anxious,
fear-filled situation, the risen Christ appears. John doesn’t report Pentecost, the coming of
the Holy Spirit, in the same way Luke does in Acts. John says that Jesus breathed on the
disciples and told them to “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, Jesus told the
disciples he had to go away so the Spirit could come. In other words, if God’s universal presence
was to be available, the earthly Jesus had to depart so that his Spirit could
come and be with all people in all places at all times. Jesus’ presence is not validated in the world
by the exercise of miraculous powers. It
is evident where the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed and practiced. That was finally why Jesus came and why he
died and why God raised him. However we
construe what happened on the cross and why it happened, whether Jesus was an
example or a sacrifice, the heart of the matter is the same—Jesus came because
God wanted the world to know that we could all be forgiven. If we as the people of God have anything to
say to the world worth hearing, any gift to offer worth giving, it is this,
“You are forgiven!” How have you
experienced this gift of forgiveness?
How are we as a Christian community offering this gift to the world?
Thought for the day: The Holy Spirit's presence in the world, more than anything, makes forgiveness a possibility for all of us.
Prayer: O God, help me to experience your Spirit's presence as true forgiveness, and through your Spirit, allow forgiveness to flow through me to others. Amen.
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